Ten takeaways from the Celtics blowout win over the Warriors on MLK Day

Boston dominated Golden State in every facet of the game.

1. Domination

Boston has been in a very weird cycle recently where they either play horribly down to their competition or completely blowout their opponent out. The Celtics chose blowout in this game. It looked like a repeat of March 3rd, 2024. Boston blew out the Golden State Warriors by 40 points, winning 125-85.

This game was over after the third quarter when the Celtics outscored the Warriors 43-24. There was an even distribution of scoring for Boston as they finished with six players in double digit points and shot 53% (49-92) from the field.

2. Three Point Shooting Returned

The Celtics three point shooting has been very inconsistent for a while now but Boston had a return to form from beyond the arc in this game. Boston shot 42% (20/48) from three today as they were able to do a great job of getting open looks and knocking them down.

Celtics three point shot chart (via NBA.com/celtics)

One of the best shots they got was when Jaylen Brown collapsed the Warriors defense as he drove to the basket and passed the ball around Trayce Jackson-Davis to find a wide open Kristaps Porzingis for a corner three.

Another great three was when Jayson Tatum threw an entry pass to Al Horford that was a little offline as Buddy Hield came to double him. Just like the Brown play, Horford made a great catch and found Sam Hauser in the corner for a wide open three with a quick pass.

3. Bully Ball

The Celtics bullied the Warriors down low, winning the points in the paint battle 52-26. The killer whale offense was in full effect tonight as Boston hunted for the mismatch on defense (most of the time it was Steph Curry) and found their way to easy looks at the basket. Boston shot 94% (15-16) at the rim tonight and 70% (26-37) in the paint as a whole. The Celtics dominated the boards as well, out rebounding the Warriors 50-38.

One of the best plays to highlight this came from Jayson Tatum after a play where he missed a three point shot over Kevon Looney. In the next possession, Tatum blew by Looney on his way to the rim, forcing the Warriors to call a timeout.

4. Porzingis’ Quick Starts

Ever since Kristaps Porzingis came back, the Celtics have done a great job at getting him involved early in games on the offensive end. Over the last six games, he is averaging 9.8 points per game in the first quarter while shooting 66% from the field and 63% from three.

Against the Warriors, Porzingis got off to quick start, scoring 8 points on 2-4 shooting as he was able to find his rhythm. He finished with 18 points on 6-13 shooting overall and has looked like one of the Celtics best offensive players.

5. Midrange Jay

Jayson Tatum had a pretty average game against the Warriors, finishing the game with 22 points, 9 rebounds, and 7 assists on 9-20 shooting from the field and 3-10 from three. The three ball wasn’t really falling for Tatum but where he was able to really impress was from the midrange.

On his first basket of the game Tatum had a chance to pull up for a three over Steph Curry on the fast break. Instead, he let Curry fly by him and took a few steps in for a pull up midrange jumper.

With about a minute left in the first half Tatum got the switch on Buddy Hield. He backed down Hield, putting his shoulder into him and rose up to splash a pretty fadeaway jumper.

When Tatum’s midrange jumper is falling, he is one of the most dangerous three-level scorers in the NBA. Should he use his midrange game more often? Maybe. But if his three point isn’t falling, he could go back to it more often.

6. Clamps

There have been times this year where the Celtics have struggled to get stops against their opponents but their defense was great against the Warriors. Boston held Golden State to 35% shooting from the field and 26% from three. The Celtics were able to force the Warriors into 12 turnovers and turn those into 19 points.

With the Warriors being shorthanded, the Celtics were able to zone in on Steph Curry as they only allowed him to score 18 points on 6-16 shooting and 4-12 from three.

Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

7. (Derrick) White-Out

Derrick White had a great night on the defensive end, finishing with 3 blocks and a steal against the Warriors. White did a great job with Jrue Holiday when it came to Steph Curry but his blocks were really impressive.

His best block of the night was when Steph Curry found Kevon Looney going to the rim. White elevated and met Looney at the summit to send back a potential dunk.

8. Brown Bounces Back

Coming off of a game where he scored 24 points on 9-27 shooting against the Hawks, Jaylen Brown bounced back with a solid performance against the Warriors. Brown finished with 17 points on 8-14 shooting and overall looked a lot more comfortable with his shot.

It feels like Brown hasn’t used his fadeaway jump shot as much as he did last season so it was a great sight to see him hit his first shot of the night with one over Kevon Looney.

Brown did a great job getting to the rim in this game as nobody on the Warriors was going to be able to guard him. He had a great reverse layup as he cut through the Golden State defense and used his strength to bully defenders underneath the basket.

One of my favorite plays from Jaylen Brown on the night was when in the third quarter he was able to get a midrange shot off through Steph Curry, absorbing the contact and kissing it off the glass for the bucket.

9. Baylor Buckets

With the Celtics starters being able to sit out most of the fourth quarter, this gave some of the bench guys a chance to show off. Someone who really took advantage of this opportunity was Baylor Scheierman who got his chance to shine after being called up from the Maine Celtics.

After averaging 19.4 Points in Maine, Scheirman scored a career high 5 points on 2-3 shooting in 4 minutes against the Warriors.

Scheierman’s shot hasn’t been falling much when he does get a chance to play in Boston so it was good to see him make his first shot, a three over the Warriors Gui Santos.

Scheierman started to play with more confidence after seeing his first shot go down and followed his three with a tough midrange shot. He was able to get Moses Moody to switch on to Xavier Tillman and rose up for an easy bucket.

Who knows if Baylor Scheierman will get more run with the Celtics over this west coast road trip but if he is able to continue to hit shots in his limited minutes, he could find some more time in Boston this season.

10. Beating the Warriors is fun

The Celtics history with the Golden State Warriors has been thoroughly documented ever since 2022 NBA Finals. Steph Curry and Golden State was seen as Boston’s boogey man after beating them in those Finals up until the Celtics blew them out in a 52-point win last season.

Then the Olympics happened, where Steve Kerr benched Jayson Tatum and the rivalry was renewed all over again. The first matchup against the Warriors this season was supposed to be Tatum’s revenge game and the Warriors spoiled it by beating the Celtics 118-112 in TD Garden.

Photo by David Dow/NBAE via Getty Images

This time around there wasn’t as much hype going into the game. The Warriors were missing key pieces in Draymond Green and Jonathan Kuminga so Golden State didn’t have much chance of beating the Celtics at full strength with only Steph Curry.

However, this is the first time the Celtics have beaten the Warriors on the road since Game 1 of the 2022 Finals so it was nice to finally break that streak after some heartbreaking losses in the last two seasons. They got blown in their first game after the Finals in Golden State in 2023 and lost on a Curry dagger on the road last season.

Brown and Tatum’s legacy’s will always be connected to the Warriors so any chance the Celtics get to blow them out in dominant fashion, no matter how good Golden State is. will forever be fun to watch.

Photo by Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images